The other day I met a man named Morton.
After my team and I led worship at one of the local churches here in Jamaica, we went out into the surrounding communities to pray for people, encourage people, and talk to them about who Jesus is. To be honest, we walked for a while and didn’t really see anyone. It was a little frustrating because we were walking up a hill in the middle of nowhere, and it appeared as if the houses were getting further and further away, while a whole lot of nothing was on the horizon.
“God, what am I doing here?” I thought to myself. “Where are we going?”
Walking for a little while longer, I saw this man in the distance, sitting on the steps in front of a tiny little house. Instantly, I knew in my heart that we were there to speak with him. Approaching the house, we shook hands and I asked him how his day was going. He asked us what we were doing and why we were aimlessly walking around the area. We told him we were there to talk to him, encourage him, and pray for him. His leg had been hurting him for years, so we prayed for healing. Both physical healing and spiritual healing. After we prayed for him, we told him we were happy to meet him, and asked his name. I know that’s usually a question you ask on the front end of a conversation, but for whatever reason we asked him that in parting.
“My name is Morton.” he said.
As we turned to walk away, he said something. To be honest, I don’t even remember what he said, but I’m glad he said it. Megan, Katherine and I eagerly turned around to ask him what he said. He started rambling on about random things, and it was hard to understand him because he was very old, missing all but two or three teeth. From what I could tell, I think he just wanted us to stay there with him, and we were more than happy to do it.
The conversation took off again. He talked to us about the fact that he had been hurt by people in the church before and it was hard to trust again. That resonated with one of the people of our team, so she explained that she had been through the same thing. We had the opportunity to tell him that there are imperfect people in the church that will fail you without a doubt, but that Christ never will. You can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The truth of the Gospel isn’t dependent on the perfection of Christians, but on the perfect life and love of Jesus Christ.
Eventually, the conversation came to an end. And as we prepared to leave once again I heard Morton utter the words, “I want to be a Christian.” At first I thought maybe I misunderstood him, due to the fact that it was so difficult to make out what he was saying. But sure enough, he emphatically repeated himself: “I think it’s time for me to be a Christian.”
There on the steps of that tiny little house, somewhere in the hills of Jamaica, Morton let go of his grudge against the church. He let go of what seems like endless effort to be “good enough” in this life, and came to a newfound faith in Jesus Christ. He accepted the fact that he was also an imperfect person, and that Jesus paid the price for Him to be right with God again.
This is one of the many stories that make the World Race worth it.
Travel is fun. Experiencing new places is great. Eating new foods and diving into other cultures is outstanding. But seeing the transforming power of the Gospel at work in Morton’s life is why Katherine and I are doing this thing.
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
(2 Peter 1:16)
The apostles were convinced that Jesus was who he claimed to be, not because they were told by someone else, but because they were eyewitnesses. The amazing thing is that it doesn’t stop with the apostles and the early church.
Katherine and I aren’t traveling the world to tell people about some religious figure we were taught about in “Sunday School” as a child. Just like the apostles, we are witnesses to the fact that God truly can change a human life. And we aren’t just called to be his witnesses in America, but in countries around the world. Last month was the Dominican. This month it’s Jamaica. Next month it’s India. No matter where we go in this world, we have been called by God to share the hope that we have in Christ.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
(Acts 1:8)
I was reminded this week that everything we do here on this earth—all the money we get. All the fame and success we achieve. The cars we drive and the houses we live in. None of it matters in light of eternity. One day we will die and we can’t take it with us.
There is a salvation that can be found in Christ and in Him alone. It’s the one thing we CAN take with us when we leave. It’s a hope I have. It’s a hope that Katherine has. And now, it’s the hope that Morton has.
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